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<\/a>Clancy’s attempt at ngobrol-ngobrol<\/em> before the event. Photo: Kevin Pantow<\/p><\/div>\n Penny is the shadow minister for trade and investment and was born in Sabah in Malaysia. She spoke about the fact that Indonesia was not as well known to Australians as it ought to be, pointing out that bilateral trade between the two countries was dwarfed by size of trade that Australia benefits from with New Zealand, which has a population of 4 million compared to Indonesia\u2019s whopping 250 million. For those that haven\u2019t read it before, Penny suggested checking out the Price Waterhouse Cooper report from 2014 ‘Passing us by’ which outlines the enormous challenge and opportunity for investment in the South East Asian region.<\/p>\n Penny Wong addressing the panel. Photo:\u00a0Kevin Pantow<\/p><\/div>\n For Nathan, part of the problem was the ignorance among the general population, which is why it was so important that groups like AIYA capitalise on the opportunity to understand Indonesian culture and language. There are already hundreds of Australian businesses that have ventured into the Indonesian market, despite all of its difficulties. Nathan described jetting into Jakarta grabbing cash from an Aussie ATM (ANZ) and a coffee most likely served by an Australian Company (Gloria Jeans) made in a paper cup most likely manufactured in Adelaide. So Australian businesses are there – but challenges remain.<\/p>\n Nathan speaking on business opportunities in Indonesia. Photo: Kevin Pantow<\/p><\/div>\n The fact that Indonesia is an incredibly diverse, religious and new democracy takes a lot of Australians and Australian business people by surprise, making the transition to a new market all the more challenging. Of course, as Nathan pointed out these challenges and the prospect of reward is why Australian business people keep going back to Indonesia.<\/p>\n Andrew recognised that nationalistic sentiments and corruption can make bilateral trade and investment difficult but did not undersell the opportunities for young Australians looking to work there. Andrew pointed out that development jobs are hard to come by for young Australians, but the business opportunities are many.<\/p>\n Andrew outlining the political and economic challenges in Indonesia. Photo: Kevin Pantow<\/p><\/div>\n I was also thrilled to hear some pretty robust discussion about the Trans-Pacific Partnership and how the Indonesian and Australian economies could benefit. While Indonesia is not a signature to the multilateral treaty our expert panel were not so quick to dismiss Indonesia as a player in the political and economic future of the transpacific partnership.<\/p>\n Manufacturing and agriculture is a globalised industry, which means that transpacific partners will still need the goods and services of Indonesian businesses, and there may be opportunities for Indonesian companies to participate in the partnership via partner nations. The panel highlighted some of these preliminary issues that will become clearer as details of the partnership are released.<\/p>\n After thanking the panelists with a box of Adelaide\u2019s finest Haigh\u2019s chocolate, a few members took off for a bite and chatted about the topics raised – and how AIYA in SA was really lifting the tone of debate on Indonesian engagement. Flinders University was very generous in giving us the space to hold the panel, and the Australia Indonesia Association and National Branch of the Australia Indonesia Youth Association also provided generous assistance with financial and admin support.<\/p>\n For anyone interested in getting involved in future events, get onto Yudis our new President elect – because we have already got some thoughts for the next great event within the Aus. Indo youth space… Thanks to all that helped with the organisation – Yudis, Erin, Shanti and Kevin and we look forward to seeing you at the next event!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>